If you are asking this question, how do I know what my countertop is made of, you must have moved to a new house, and aren’t sure of the material used to cover your countertops. Don’t worry, you aren’t alone. According to granite contractors, there are plenty of new homeowners that can’t tell whether their countertops are made from marble, quartz, or granite. To help you out, here are three of the most popular countertop materials and how they compare:
Marble
Marble is said to be the most elegant natural stone in the world. Just like granite, it has been around for years, and it has been used to construct palaces for kings and statues dedicated to gods.
Impurity free marble is solid white. Unfortunately, most of the marble contains other minerals that give it a myriad of colors such as black, pink, gray, and yellow.
Real marble tends to have unparalleled glossiness. When you are inspecting the stone, don’t take this as a telltale sign your countertop is made from marble as unscrupulous business people can replicate it by adding small pieces of glass and other materials.
The colors of the countertops will appear as veins or swirls throughout the stone, and since the countertop is natural, it won’t have repeating or symmetrical patterns.
Unlike granite, marble is translucent; hence you can see a few millimeters past the surface, which gives the material more depth.
Granite
Granite has been around for years, and it’s one of the most popular countertop materials in the market. It contains an assortment of different minerals such as: mica, feldspar, and quartz. It comes in different colors such as brown, gray, white, and red.
Granite is referred to as a phanerite rock. This means it contains crystals and mineral clumps that are large enough to distinguish with naked eyes. When you look at a granite slab, you will see various pieces in a speckled pattern that come together to form the stone.
You will come across some granite that has a veined look similar to marble, but when you look at it closely, the color patches tend to be grainy and blurry, instead of having distinct streaks. Since the stone is opaque, you can only see the outermost layer of the surface.
Quartz
Quartz counters are humanmade, where they are made by mixing ground quartz stone, resins, and polymers. Some quartz countertops can be a mix of ground granite, marble and other natural stones giving birth to engineered stone.
Since the countertops are humanmade, they come in a variety of colors and patterns.
If you are new with countertops and would love to know whether you are using real or fake countertops, you should look at the pattern. Every slab of marble or granite is unique since it’s made from natural stone. As a consequence, no two areas of the stone will look the same.
Since quartz is humanmade, it tends to have a fairly uniform color and consistency throughout with little variation in patterns and texture.
So what should you do after knowing?
Once you have known the countertops you have in your home, the next move should be to take care of them. In most cases, you give the same care to all types of countertops.
One of the things you should do is to clean the countertops. When you notice dirt, clean the countertops with mild soap and sponge. Avoid using harsh chemicals as they will etch the surfaces.
You also should avoid placing a lot of weight on the countertops. Marble, granite, and quartz countertops appear sturdy and indestructible, but they easily crack when you place a lot of weight on them.
To keep them in shape, avoid sitting on them. You also should avoid placing a heavy cooking item at the edges of the countertops.
Finally, you should make a habit of clearing any debris from the countertops as soon as it happens. This ensures the countertops don’t stain, so you don’t have to undertake countertop replacement Raleigh. Just like when cleaning the surfaces, avoid getting rid of dirt using harsh products that can harm the surfaces.
